Owners Pick Selig In Interim

September 10, 1992|By Murray Chass, New York Times

ST. LOUIS — Peace broke out among baseball owners Wednesday, at least in the major leagues' executive council.

With two supporters of former commissioner Fay Vincent seconding the nomination, Bud Selig of the Milwaukee Brewers - one of the leaders of the move to unseat Vincent - was unanimously elected chairman of the council.

Selig will not have the title of commissioner but is, in effect, an interim commissioner, filling the vacancy in the commissioner's office while the owners search for a replacement for Vincent, which is expected to take several months.

''Today we had to get on with the business of the game,'' said Haywood Sullivan of the Boston Red Sox, who with Eli Jacobs of the Baltimore Orioles seconded the nomination by Fred Kuhlmann of the St. Louis Cardinals. ''We wanted to send out a message that the game is going to be run and be run without partisanship.''

The council, which is made up of four owners from each league and the two league presidents, is empowered to run the major leagues in the absence of a commissioner.

''I generally try to lead by consensus,'' said Selig, who displayed that practice in joining Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox in lining up the votes that led to Vincent's resignation. ''The executive council, with me as chairman, will deal with all these matters.''